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A review by kaelaceleste
House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland
4.0
hmm...what to say....I liked this both less and more than I expected to. I know that doesn't make sense. I will try to explain.
This is a magical realism/horror novel about three sisters investigating their past and the secrets it contains. It's got some fun twists and reveals and is very moody and atmospheric, perfect for the season. Also one of the best covers I've ever seen, this is gorgeous and perfectly captures the mood/vibe of the book.
Starting with the stuff I liked this less than expected. This is a me problem! As always, and I need to stop doing this - I was burned by reading reviews. This is my own fault! I'm getting so tired of people calling something the CRAZIEST, WACKIEST, MOST DISTURBING, JAW DROPPING, CREEPY, TERRIFYING BOOK EVER WRITTEN and it's like. barely scary lmao I think I clearly must have a tolerance built up because I read and watch a LOT of horror, it's my favorite genre. I think my expectations were perhaps a bit too high on the horror front. I would call this unsettling, eerie, dark, maybe even gothic horror, but I would not call it scary, shocking, gory or many of the other words I've seen in reviews. Idk. Again this is a me problem. When will I learn to stop believing the sensationalized reviews for horror novels.
I also found parts of the story hard to follow, with chunks of unnecessary detail thrown in at times. I'm willing to forgive this because I did like most of it and where we ended up.
Now that that's out of the way, here's the good stuff.
I liked this a lot more than I expected because I expected this to be a YA. It sort of is, but definitely reads more toward the A side of that. The writing was really lovely - what's the word for it? It was flowery without being stuffy or condescending, which I feel happens too often when authors are trying to be Very Deep and show off. This was an easy read, but didn't feel juvenile.
I absolutely loved the vibes of this book. This was perfect to read in October. It's spooky and moody and everything you love about fall. It feels like the perfect book to read with a cozy blanket and a candle lit while rain hits the window. Just lovely. I also loved the characters and representation in here. Something about having queer characters in a novel that is not a romance really scratches a specific itch in my brain, so that was nice to see. I thought Iris was probably the least interesting of the three sisters but I understand why she was the MC.
I'm not always a huge magical realism fan, because I think too often the author will be afraid to commit to the bit, if you will - they'll half-ass the magical part of magical realism and it feels sort of lazy. But I really liked it in this. It truly felt like this could happen in the real world and these were normal people (but everything is not as it seems...!)
I did sort of see parts of the Big Reveal coming but only because when you read enough of this type of thing you start to guess stuff easily. I liked where the story went and ultimately how it ended, and I really liked the epilogue.
So yeah. 3.5-4ish. I liked!
This is a magical realism/horror novel about three sisters investigating their past and the secrets it contains. It's got some fun twists and reveals and is very moody and atmospheric, perfect for the season. Also one of the best covers I've ever seen, this is gorgeous and perfectly captures the mood/vibe of the book.
Starting with the stuff I liked this less than expected. This is a me problem! As always, and I need to stop doing this - I was burned by reading reviews. This is my own fault! I'm getting so tired of people calling something the CRAZIEST, WACKIEST, MOST DISTURBING, JAW DROPPING, CREEPY, TERRIFYING BOOK EVER WRITTEN and it's like. barely scary lmao I think I clearly must have a tolerance built up because I read and watch a LOT of horror, it's my favorite genre. I think my expectations were perhaps a bit too high on the horror front. I would call this unsettling, eerie, dark, maybe even gothic horror, but I would not call it scary, shocking, gory or many of the other words I've seen in reviews. Idk. Again this is a me problem. When will I learn to stop believing the sensationalized reviews for horror novels.
I also found parts of the story hard to follow, with chunks of unnecessary detail thrown in at times. I'm willing to forgive this because I did like most of it and where we ended up.
Now that that's out of the way, here's the good stuff.
I liked this a lot more than I expected because I expected this to be a YA. It sort of is, but definitely reads more toward the A side of that. The writing was really lovely - what's the word for it? It was flowery without being stuffy or condescending, which I feel happens too often when authors are trying to be Very Deep and show off. This was an easy read, but didn't feel juvenile.
I absolutely loved the vibes of this book. This was perfect to read in October. It's spooky and moody and everything you love about fall. It feels like the perfect book to read with a cozy blanket and a candle lit while rain hits the window. Just lovely. I also loved the characters and representation in here. Something about having queer characters in a novel that is not a romance really scratches a specific itch in my brain, so that was nice to see. I thought Iris was probably the least interesting of the three sisters but I understand why she was the MC.
I'm not always a huge magical realism fan, because I think too often the author will be afraid to commit to the bit, if you will - they'll half-ass the magical part of magical realism and it feels sort of lazy. But I really liked it in this. It truly felt like this could happen in the real world and these were normal people (but everything is not as it seems...!)
I did sort of see parts of the Big Reveal coming but only because when you read enough of this type of thing you start to guess stuff easily. I liked where the story went and ultimately how it ended, and I really liked the epilogue.
So yeah. 3.5-4ish. I liked!